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Progress Report: Windrush Frozen Foods

WHEN the Enterprise Network visited Windrush Frozen Foods last year, the firm had been growing steadily.

It had notched up sales of £8.3m by delivering pasta, pesto, olive oil and other ingredients from its factory in Witney, Oxfordshire, to restaurant chains, writes Andrew Stone.

But Robert Arpino, its founder and managing director, was changing the company from a wholesaler into a food-services group, offering restaurants a complete one-stop shop that provided ingredients, menus, kitchen-layout plans and even advice on cutlery and tablecloths.

“There are so many consultants out there who offer bits,” said Arpino. “We want to offer the whole lot — and then supply the ingredients.”

The plan was to raise annual sales to £30m, so the company could reinvest to deliver a better service and ultimately provide a better base from which to chase bigger contracts.

The problem

To underpin this expansion, Arpino needed to recruit specialists with chef’s